


The Return Part I

by hoppingmad



Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Episode: s03e10-e11 The Return, F/M, Sparkysga - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 12:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15994997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoppingmad/pseuds/hoppingmad
Summary: In this AU fic, Sam Carter is included in the team heading back to Atlantis.I needed an excuse to write two of my favourite pairings in one fic, and here it is.





	The Return Part I

The Return Part I

..

AU

..

Sheppard/Weir, O’Neill/Carter, Teyla, Ronon, McKay, Carson.

..

So this story came to mind while I was watching The Return Part I.

..

The moment she stepped through the gate she _knew_ something was wrong. She had been working at the SGC long enough to know that whatever the issue, it was serious.

“Colonel Carter,” Landry greeted her, his face unreadable.

“Sir,” she strode straight to him, a flutter of fear in her heart. She knew that Jack was heading to Atlantis to check in on Woolsey, had something happened while he travelled? They had hardly had a chance to test the intergalactic gate network, perhaps there was a problem.

“I need to speak to you immediately, your debrief from this mission can wait until tomorrow.” He dismissed her team and began walking away.

“Please,” she grabbed Landry’s arm before he could walk away. “Is it General O’Neill, is he okay?”

She was fairly certain Landry knew that she and Jack were together. They had finally given in and started a relationship while she had been working for Area 51 and he had technically retired at the time. Jack had only told her that he had “sorted it” when they were both asked to return to the SGC temporarily to help with the Ori. For once in her life she put her curiosity aside and just let it be, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the details.

“He’s…” Landry’s composure broke a little and she dropped her P-90 with a loud clatter. _Dead_. Something far worse than just being stuck between galaxies then.

“No,” she whispered, pretty sure her heart was actually beating so far out of rhythm it was just going to stop.

“Look, it’s a long story and I think it’s best we sit down for it.” Landry awkwardly picked up her gun and handed it to her.

..

_Atlantis Team Dinner_

..

Carson headed off to the restroom on arriving at the restaurant and McKay was running late so Elizabeth found herself standing alone with John in the foyer. For the first time since she had met John Sheppard she felt uneasy, and unsure of how to stand or even how to speak to him. If she wasn’t mistaken, he was looking just as uncomfortable.

“Uh, how have you been?” He asks awkwardly.

“I’m fine.” She tries to smile but for some reason a sigh escapes her instead. She feels a blush rise to her cheeks and she ducks her head, embarrassed.

“Hey,” he says, and when she still won’t look at him she is surprised to find his hand on her chin. He gently lifts her face and takes a step closer. “It’s okay, you aren’t the only one.”

She missed him. _Misses him_. She misses Atlantis, her life there… but at the moment she knows that of all the people she had befriended on Atlantis, it was John she missed the most.

“I miss you.” She says softly, and when his hand shifts from beneath her chin to cup her cheek, she leans into him slightly. She finds that when her eyes meet his, he speaks to her in that way that only Sheppard can – where no words are needed. _I miss you too_. He says.

They leap apart at the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them and turn to find Carson looking distinctly uncomfortable.

“Sorry to interrupt, it’s just that I think McKay has arrived…” Carson gestures outside. “I figured you didn’t want him to…” _See_. She finishes for Carson and sends him a grateful smile. Carson was far more intuitive with human emotions than their friend McKay ever would be.

“You look nice,” Carson tells her as they walk into the restaurant. “Doesn’t she look lovely tonight, lads?” He asks, but the two men behind them seem to be arguing already so he simply pulls her seat out for her.

“Why, thank you Carson.” She smiles up at him and watches as the other sit down, grumbling between each other.

As the four of them peruse the menu and while John and Rodney bicker between each other, she has an epiphany of sorts.

She had spent the past six weeks hiding from the people she had come to think of as _family_. If she were honest, she was hoping and waiting to be recalled to Atlantis… and seeing them had only reminded her that they were stuck here, on Earth… and she couldn’t think of _anything_ good about it.

But sitting here tonight, and after the strange but _pleasant_ moment she had with John in the foyer, she realised that her repressed feelings for the Colonel could be released. She had of course considered her feelings for him prior to this very moment – but she supposed this was the first time she thought that maybe John was on the same page as her.

She found throughout the meal and small talk that as often as she was sneaking glances at John, he was doing the same to her. It warmed her heart and for the first time in weeks she knew what she had to do. She would finish up as early as possible and she knew that when she left, he would follow. She had absolutely no doubt in her mind about this and as usual she could find no explanation as to how she knew this.

It was as she was trying to make her escape that all their cell-phones began all going off at once. She felt her heart skip a beat. There could only be _one_ thing that all of the people sitting at the table could be getting a call about…

 _Atlantis_.

..

She had been hovering around the personal quarters of the SGC for hours before she saw them enter John’s room. She had left Landry’s office and told him she needed some personal leave to come to terms with her _loss_.

 _Loss_. As if she would ever leave Jack behind. If there was even a slight chance that he survived, she would find her way to Atlantis.

There was only a handful of people who would risk everything to get back to Atlantis right now, and she knew exactly who they would be.

Elizabeth Weir, John Sheppard, Rodney McKay and Carson Beckett.

She waited until the four of them had dispersed before leaving the guest room she had been hiding in and made her way in the direction Weir had gone. She needed to get Weir on her side first, she knew that as a woman she would understand her plight more keenly than the other three.

“Doctor Weir,” she jogged to catch up with her. Weir stopped and looked at her, an eyebrow raised.

“Colonel Carter,”

She knew then for sure that Weir had a plan up her sleeve. If she didn’t plan on returning, the first thing she would have done is apologise about Jack.

“I want in.” Carter tells her firmly.

“On… what exactly?”

Wow. Elizabeth Weir had the best poker face Carter had ever come across.

“I want to go to Atlantis with you. I’m not stupid.”

“ _Jack_.” Weir whispers, looking suddenly sad. “I’m sorry Colonel, I hadn’t even…”

“You were lost in your own thoughts, your own plans. It’s okay. Just let me in.”

“Of course, let me contact John.”

Carter steps aside as Weir calls Colonel Sheppard on her cell phone and has a quiet conversation. There doesn’t seem to be any argument from Sheppard’s end. Carter always knew he was a smart man.

“Okay, let me lay it out for you.”

The two women slip into the nearest empty quarters and discuss the plan in detail. Carter is impressed at the ingenuity of the team, but as she has fought replicators on more occasions than they have – she knows she will be an asset to their team all the same.

..

Elizabeth is actually unsurprised that Colonel Carter would risk her job to save the life of a fellow SGC member. Actually, she’s probably one of very few who realises just how _deep_ the connection runs between Colonel Carter and General O’Neill. She had access to un-redacted mission reports – and she was also not completely blind. She saw the way they looked at one another.

She couldn’t prove it, but she was also pretty sure the two of them had finally stopped fighting it and were actually _in_ a relationship now. She didn’t know how, being in Atlantis meant she was not privy to such things anymore… and it really wasn’t any of her business.

“Sam,” McKay is his usual irritating self as he fiddles with something in the rear compartment of the jumper, Elizabeth didn’t even pretend to understand what.

“McKay,” the woman beside her responds, and sends an eyeroll in Elizabeth’s direction.

“Are you even listening?”

“Yes,” Sam answers tiredly.

“Well I don’t think you are because-“ McKay begins…

“McKay,” Sheppard interrupts and picks up his P-90, pointing it at the door. “Shut up, let’s go find Teyla and Ronon.”

**TBC.**

 


End file.
